High End, Fan-Favorite British Entertainment Returns To Public Television in Southern California With New Seasons of VICTORIA and DOC MARTIN in January 2019

Burbank, Calif. – Dec. 13, 2018 –The Public Media Group of Southern California, formed by the merger of KCET and PBS SoCal, announced today the January 2019 new season premiere dates of two of the world’s most beloved and highly-rated British programs, VICTORIA as seen on MASTERPIECE and DOC MARTIN, making Southern California public television the ultimate destination for fans of high quality, award-winning programming from across the pond. Fans of her Majesty as well as the combative and tactless Doc, can ring in the new year with the eagerly anticipated returns of both series in accordance with KCET and PBS SoCal’s commitment to bring viewers “more of what you love” and the best in quality, acclaimed international programming.

First up is the highly anticipated third season of the royal drama VICTORIA (Sun. Jan. 13 at 9 p.m. on PBS SoCal) which picks up in 1848, with the Queen facing a crisis that threatens to end her reign with revolution breaking out across Europe. Then comes the long awaited return of the beloved British comedy/drama DOC MARTIN (Thur. Jan. 24 at 8 p.m. on KCET) now in its eighth season where viewers can relive the Doctor’s special brand of bedside manner as he discovers how stressful married life can be with a new baby.

Season three of VICTORIA stars Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who) as the candid, spirited monarch Queen Victoria who navigates the scandal, corruption and political intrigues of the Court as she rises to become the most powerful woman in the world. One of the highest-rated dramas on PBS in 20 years, VICTORIA is a coproduction of Mammoth Screen and MASTERPIECE. The series is created, written, and executive produced by Daisy Goodwin. Continuing the story of Victoria’s rule over the largest empire the world has ever known, VICTORIA Season 3 introduces fascinating new historical characters with returning cast including Tom Hughes (Dancing on the Edge) as Victoria’s devoted, obsessive husband, Prince Albert; Nell Hudson (Outlander) as the queen’s chief dresser; Ferdinand Kingsley (Borgia) as Charles Francatelli, the royal chef and cookbook king; plus a host of others. As Season 3 gets underway, Victoria is pregnant with her sixth child. But she has much else on her mind, chiefly the Revolutions of 1848, when the downtrodden throughout Europe begin agitating for the overthrow of aristocratic rule. For more information, viewers can go to pbs.org/masterpiece

DOC MARTIN, one of British TV streaming service Acorn TV’s and ITV’s most popular series, stars BAFTA Award® winner Martin Clunes (Arthur & George, Men Behaving Badly) as Martin Ellingham, the small-town doctor whose truculence and tactless manner cause mayhem in a quirky seaside town in Cornwall. Since the beginning, the beloved comedy/drama series has delighted fans with the trials and tribulations of the brash Ellingham, once a celebrated London surgeon who winds up in the sleepy village of Portwenn, replacing their deceased local doctor. But the new physician’s abrasive personality doesn't exactly mesh with the pace of life in Cornwall. Three years since airing the last season, KCET’s highest-rated series returns for an eighth season as the good Doctor and his wife Louisa (Caroline Catz) are back together confronting life in Portwenn with their infant son, James Henry. The series also stars Ian McNeice as Portwenn’s affable Bert Large and Dame Eileen Atkins (Upstairs, Downstairs) as the Doc’s formidable Aunt Ruth. There’s sure to be plenty of mystery, scheming and romance amongst the rest of Portwenn as well. DOC MARTIN is syndicated to KCET by American Public Television and Acorn TV. For more information, please visit www.kcet.org/docmartin

Additional British programming that will air throughout the year includes new seasons of DEATH IN PARADISE and FATHER BROWN on KCET as well as MIDSOMER MURDERS and THE DOCTOR BLAKE MYSTERIES on PBS SoCal…bringing more of what Southern California viewers trust and love back to television.

Establishing a powerful PBS flagship organization on the West Coast, the historic union of KCET and PBS SoCal in October created the opportunity to offer viewers more of the programming they enjoy on multiple channels and platforms including the free PBS Video App and at pbssocal.org.

Join the conversation on social media using #KCET #PBSSoCal #DocMartin and #VictoriaPBS